Tin Provenance and Raw Material Supply – Considerations about the Spread of Bronze Metallurgy in Europe

Abstract

The paper focuses on isotopic data of bronzes from the 3^rd and 2^nd millennium BC. The sample sets comprise bronzes from hoards, graves, and settlements from Central and Southeastern Europe as well as the Aegean and Mesopotamia. The analytical determination of tin isotopic compositions and a possible use of tin from different ore sources between the Carpathian Basin, the Aegeo-Balkan-Complex and tin bearing regions in Central and Western Europe will be discussed. Since the 2^nd millennium bronzes show in general a different isotopic composition than those of the 3^rd millennium, the presented analyses indicate a possible reorientation of exchange routes in Europe during the 2^nd millennium BC. This is supported by the composition of a few Aegean samples from the turn of the millennia, which have heavier tin isotopic compositions than all other sample sets. This suggests that different tin sources might have been used to manufacture these bronzes.